Algonquin Park Grosbeak

[Paul Lagasi]

If any of you ever get to Algonquin Park in Eastern Ontario during winter, it is a great place to photograph..stopped by the feeders at the visitors centre..unbelievable the number of birds, Pine, Evening Grosbeaks, Hoary and Common Redpolls, Siskins, Jays, Crossbills to name a few...even a Pine Marten eating seeds at a feeder. Off in the distance a roadkill moose had been helicoptered in, unfortunately for us..wolves had pretty well cleaned it up..but ravens were still working it...wanted a really good photo of an Evening Grosbeak.
Took lots of photos but sun was playing havoc with me..lots of shadows....this was one of the better ones...
only wish I could get a little more detail in left wing white....twigs, branches unavoidable
D300
300mm
ISO - 500
1/1600
f5.6
ev +.7

[Randy Stout]

Paul:

A very colorful bird, sharp, good eye contact.

i would have been tempted to shoot wide open (assuming this was an f/4 lens) to try and use the shallower DOF to help with the unavoidable twigs/branches. Yes, the tail might have gone a bit soft, but I think it might have been your best compromise.

EV of 0 or .+3 would have probably saved the left wing whites from burn out. If you aren't using the three colored histogram, I would strongly recommend that on the back of your camera. The red channel often blows before the others, and it will wipe out your whites.

Cheers

Randy

[John Cooper]

Nice sharp image Paul with a good head-turn. Can't do much about where they perch, but the left wing does appears a little hot.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the pose, details and head turn. If the original is RAW it should not be difficult to tone down the highlights. Too bad about the branches in the BG. That nature center sounds like a great place. What kind of jays, blue, gray or both?

[Paul Lagasi]

Axel mainly Blue Jays..but we did find 3 Gray Jays in area..Paul

[Arthur Morris]

You did relatively well with near impossible lighting conditions but some of the whites are surely toasted. At some parks it is often possible to trade some images for the right to set up some attractive perches.

Sounds like a great list of birds, birds that I need to photograph!

[Paul Lagasi]

Thanks Everyone.....Artie anytime, the visitor centre always has birds, some years better than others...Paul

[Wilson Hum]

I'm not sure if this would help but maybe try and underexpose to keep the white from blowing and use flash to bring up the shadows. Bright sunlight on white feathers will really make this a challenge though. Setting up a perch would be best if permitted as this would allow you to control the direction of light (not always feasible) and background.